Our Soul Resonance
by Akire Rosales
Summary: Things have changed. How she looks at him, how he cant look at her anymore, the way they feel next to each other. From the warmth of morning to the breeze of night... why do things dont feel the same without the other by their sides? One desperately wants to feel it, to be engulfed by it... the other is terrified by such powerful needs. A Ludifer and AkireRosales teamwork fic!
1. Chapter 1

**Akire Rosales**: BEHOLD! SIMPLE MORTALS!... wait… WAIT! DON'T KILL ME! Im still on-going with "Whispers" I swear! Actually ;_; expect an update soon, p-put that gun down dammit!

Cough, Alright… New fanfic everyone! But this one is specially special! This fic is not mine fully, I just got the idea and traced down the plan, but someone helped me to write it… she actually wrote half of this thing, one post at a time xD Yes, this is a four-hand written fanfic! And who is the second author?

I can answer that with another question!... are you related to "The Other Side"? :D

Yes! This fanfic is the love-child I had with Ludifer, the writer of The Other Side! With that said, yes ._. Im the reason why TOS gets delayed sometimes… p-put that gun down…

Anyway! Rambling here! This fanfic is anime-based and takes time after the kishin fight, of course. CroMa to the bone, Rated M because… seriously? Do I have to say it? Is a goddamn fanfic wrote by Ludifer and me! Enough said.

TO THE FIC!

* * *

**Our Soul Resonance**

**Chapter 1**

**Beach time!**  
**Sharings rooms!?**

What was he doing there?

Oh yeah, vacations. They were supposed to be a good thing, right? They said something about having fun and relaxing, although he had no idea his friends were stressed out. Like... yeah school was hard, but he couldn't quite get why they would need to travel so far away just to relax. As far as the day had gone, Crona was pretty stressed out already. The trip to the airport, leaving the luggage in a weird moving floor, getting inside the plane was a whole travesty by itself. Lets not even talk about the little freak out he got when the plane lifted...

He could do nothing but sigh, looking at the huge living room of the hotel. This wasn't relaxing, this was horrible! He just wanted to go back to Shibusen and cuddle with Maka watching T.V... now THAT was relaxing for him.

"Ughhuu..." He sighed, carrying his light luggage tightly.

It was so nice to get away from everything, a change of pace. Maka took in a deep breath and puffed the air out of her lungs. That was better. She had been looking forward to this for weeks...

Normally she was too worried about missing work and valuable training to care about these vacations she often got dragged to because of Soul or...her papa. Maka inwardly cringed at the thought of her papa mentally tugging at her to hang around with him. She would often retire to her room and hide there.

But this time was different...

The whole group was for the moment inside a vast grand entrance hall. The hall of the hotel they were going to be staying at. It's décor was quite lavish, far higher in taste then anything Maka and her friends were used to. With the high ceilings and the quiet air of the other guests… the staff quickly going about their daily tasks with a certain amount of pride in their step. This was certainly an expensive hotel…

Maka looked back to Crona who was lifting his bag, he wasn't looking at her. Maka felt herself fidget, she had the sudden urge to talk to him, help him with his bags...after all, he was the reason she had looked forward to this so. As far as she knew he had never done anything like this... it was so new to him. The places she could take him ran through her mind. She shook her head.

Stop it...she didn't want to overwhelm him. But yet she couldn't stop herself from walking away from the others and closer to him.

"Hey Crona..." She spoke to him. Beaming a warm smile his way.

Maka's sweet warm voice made him yelp in surprise, jumping a bit before turning over to her, like a little soldier waiting for orders. She was staring at him with those gorgeous emerald green eyes, giving him that smile that was like the sun.

"Y-Yes? M-Maka?" He gulped, trying not to look that scared, failing miserably. He didn't want her to think that he wasn't enjoying the trip. Well... certainly so far he wasn't, except for that part in the plane when he fell asleep next to her... not like that was creepy... was it?

Crona seemed to snap to attention when she called his name. Was he daydreaming? Off in his own little world? Or maybe she just surprised him?

Never mind, Maka wanted to make sure he was ok. The others were all off chatting to each other and signing in. She stole a glance back to the rest of the group. Soul wasn't even paying attention to her, how nice of him...Maka made a mental note of that. He was too busy talking to Liz. That grin of his centred directly on her. Patty and Kid were deep in conversation...though Maka wasn't sure how good Patty was at that sort of thing. She had barely had any length of time with her.

For the moment Black Star was currently not present, Tsubaki was stood off from the others with both of their suitcases together. Maka didn't need to guess where he had gone though...his loud obnoxious voice shouting for the bathroom told her everything she needed and actually didn't want to know. Over by the counter to check in was her Papa. She almost refused to come because of him again. It was only the fact that she wanted to share this time with Crona that she convinced herself. Maka watched as her Papa fawned over the girl at the desk...great. No woman was safe. She rolled her eyes as she glared at him.

She quickly looked back at Crona. His small form was bent low as he hefted his own bag.

"Are you ok Crona? Do you want me to help you with your bag?" Normally Maka didn't offer to help people with their bags. If they wanted to bring that much they could carry it themselves…but there was just something about the small nervous Crona that just made her want to do something she considered so out of character for herself.

Crona blushed, his dark eyes fidgeting just to avoid her stare. He loved her eyes, yet they could get just too much for his poor nerves. There was something about them that was extremely alluring, so much that he had to remember himself just NOT to stare. He shook his head, smiling just a little bit, quite nervous.

"I-It's okay! I barely h-have things here..." And he was right. He barely had clothes in there, just a very basic suitcase for a few days in the beach. Maka managed to talk him out of his usual black robe, saying that he would cook to death wearing black in the beach.

Cooking to death? Yes, that was just an expression, but naive little Crona didn't get that. He just imagined himself cooking on the beach like a scrambled egg... nope, no, no, no, no he wouldn't get any of that. Instead of his robe, he was wearing a light cotton grey T-Shirt with Death's skull mask in the front, black shorts and a pair of black sneakers... he just was hoping he wasn't wearing that much black or he would melt...

A shudder. Alright, lets not think about that...

"I... I've never been in a hotel before... w-what are we supposed to do?" Crona asked, instinctively walking closer to her just to feel some comfort. Her soul wavelength always had a soothing effect on him.

Before any answer could be given, Kid came back to everyone around (except Black Star, he wouldn't even listen if he were there anyway) wearing a light smile and many keys in his fingers.

"Perfect! We have got the rooms already, although we'll need to share them in pairs, my father was a lot cheaper on us than I thought." Kid sighed, looking how his words didn't affect them as much as he thought, maybe because they all were used to sharing a room. Crona on the other hand felt a sudden fear gripping his heart... "Except for you Crona, you have a room all for yourself, I hope that's alright?"

Yes, this definitely would be stressful. Crona sighed, dropping his eyes into that known kicked-puppy face.

Maka inwardly frowned when Crona didn't accept her help. But she hid it behind a smile. She wasn't sure why she offered anyway, it just sort of came out. She only half listened to Kid when he strode up to them. But she caught the fact that they would be sharing rooms. Maka folded her arms to herself. Who would she share a room with?

Her immediate thought was that she was most likely expected to share a room with Soul...gah. Yes, she was close to him and yes they lived together. But what was wrong with wanting some time away from him? She wasn't glued to him via the hip...

Her eyes scanned to Crona next to her. A sudden idea sparked in her mind, to share a room with him. Her eyes widened as a small blush arose on her cheeks. Where did that come from? No, she can't share a room with him. Don't be so daft. He probably wanted his privacy...yeah. So who else was there? Maka scanned the candidates. Tsubaki was still staring off into space as she waited for Black Star. Yep. That would work.

Maka was looking forward to dropping her bags at her room, she was wearing a small pale blue backpack with a small goofy skull keychain. And next to her was a light red suitcase that was all ready to be wheeled to her room. Maka wondered if she should change yet. She was a bit sticky in her current gear. She wore a thin white t-shirt with a patterned design along the front and back. With beige shorts ending half way down her thigh, large pockets jutting down the sides. On her feet she wore simple laced white trainers, a small blue hat rested atop her head, completing her look. She let her hair hang long, foregoing her usual pigtailed look.

She was just about to go ask Tsubaki if she wanted to bunk wit her...but her feet wouldn't move, as if her body was reminding her brain that she had forgot to do something...eh?

Oh yeah. Maka snapped her gaze back to Crona.

"C'mon let's go check out your room and get you settled in, yeah?" She spoke warmly to him. She wanted to make sure he was perfectly ok before she even thought about sorting out herself. Kid blinked at her expectantly. Maka looked back up to him. "I'll sort my room out in a bit, Kid. Which one is Crona's?" Kid stared at her puzzled, but a small knowing grin appeared on his lips as he pulled one of the keys from the pile and handed it to her. Maka nodded her thanks and looked back to Crona. Feeling her smile soften, as if her own body knew what to do.

Meanwhile, Crona was frozen in place, having no clue of what to do. For some reason he thought they all would be together, or at least... he would be together with Maka. It wasn't like he was not used to being alone... actually he didn't want to be alone anymore. The very idea of being alone in a new unknown place terrified him... what if he got lost? What if something happened to Maka and he didn't know? But yet again... he couldn't ask Maka to be with him, right? That would be asking too much, he didn't want to overwhelm her. Anyway, how would she like to be with him when she had other roommates to choose? Like Soul, for example...

The same Soul that was walking to them with a toothed grin.

"Yo, Maka" Soul walked to them. He was wearing an orange and white coloured T-shirt, some comfortable brown shorts that reached right above his knees, and a pair of white nike shoes. Above his head was a headband, holding back his snowy white hair "Gotta check our room, though I warn you, I'll be getting the bed next to the window!"

Soul grinned, his red eyes, like pools of blood, glanced to Crona who just lowered his gaze. The little scrawny thing, always so shy, but Soul had little to no patience with him. Whatever was the matter, he better speak it out or stick it in, because he wouldn't wait there just to guess it like Maka always did.

Maka lost her smile. So Soul did indeed expect to bunk with her? Hmph. She turned her head as if to look away, but however kept her gaze locked with her weapon.

"I thought you'd want to stay with Black Star." Soul raised an eyebrow in her direction. Obviously caught off guard with her suggestion. "I'm sure he would be a lot more fun then me." She found herself hinting to him. "Besides aren't you sick of me already?" Maka smiled at him. "Not like we are connected at the hip. You can hang around with other people you know." At that Soul's gaze snapped to Crona and back to her. Why did he do that? Maka felt confused. No matter.

"Hmm... I dunno. Who are you sharing with then?" Soul spoke back. His voice bore an odd tenseness to it. As if he was holding back a comment. Maka didn't think anything of it. Most likely insulted by the fact that Maka was trying to get rid of him.

"Oh..." Maka shrugged at him. She knew who she wanted to say. But she didn't want to put Crona on the spot. "Um..." She found herself fiddling with the edge of her t-shirt. "Well…I was thinking about asking Tsubki. After all, if you stay with Black Star she can't stay with him can she? Besides it'll be better if the girl's all stay together." She happily chatted. Soul appeared to relax at her answer. As if he was worrying about her answer. Why would he be worried? Oh he was probably making sure her creepy papa wasn't trying to stay in the same room with her. Good old protective Soul.

Happy with the comment he nodded to Maka.

"See you soon ya?" Before walking off.

Maka turned to Crona once more. She flicked her head out indicating the stairs off to the side.

"C'mon, let's go."

Crona yelped again, too focused on the glance Soul gave him before he was literally being pushed by Maka to the stairs. Crona knew quite well that he and Soul didn't have the best of relationships. No, he didn't hate him, at all... he just was way too intimidating. The sparkly grin, the collected temper, his usual cool guy pose, his fame in the school... basically everything Crona would never be. He admired him as much as he felt intimidated by him... especially when he would walk off with Maka, leaving Soul with that look in his eyes.

He almost felt hated with that stare... but there was no way, right? They were friends. Crona's worry would soon evaporate when he noticed he was walking away with Maka, far away from the noisy hotel's lobby and straight to the elevator. He couldn't help but to glance at Maka, walking side by side with her. Surely Kid was thinking on shared rooms in a meister-weapon way, since they had been living together for years... but for Maka not wanting to be with Soul...

Then, why Tsubaki and not him? She said something about being connected to the hip... nope, certainly they were not connected... maybe that was a way of speaking? He never understood those, but maybe was like Ragnarok and himself... being together a lot? That would make more sense, so maybe Maka was tired of Soul... then, why Tsubaki? Why not him? Was Maka tired of him as well?

The idea of Maka being tired of him...

"M-Maka..." Crona whispered while the elevator raised to the floor the key said his room was, his soft voice trembling a bit due to fear. He really didn't want to know the answer, but the doubt was just too much for him... what if he had done something to make her angry? Or maybe she just was tired of being with him that much. He wanted to ask her... "... Why Tsubaki?"

Nope, that wasn't how he wanted to ask her. He fidgeted, cursing himself now that he had the blonde's full attention.

"I-I mean... what if she wants to be with Black Star? O-or... maybe with Liz? W-what I mean is... ah..." Dang it, why was so hard to say it? "Y-you could stay with me if you like."

Dear lord, he didn't mean to say that. He didn't... but Maka's face was the evidence that he had actually said that.

"N-Not like I'm asking for that! N-not at all! I was just o-offering options! Y-you can be with w-whoever you want!" He rushed to add, shaking his head vehemently.

Maka was a bit caught off guard. Her brow raised in surprise. Was Crona offering to share his room with her?

"Huh?" Was all she managed right away. Her brain still working out what he had said. She had thought that he would be uncomfortable sharing a room with someone. She was pretty sure they had all had the same thought. He lived alone, and having to be with someone, and share a space with them. And sleep in the same room with them...Maka wasn't sure if Crona quite understood what it entailed. She enjoyed visiting him. But this was different.

"Crona...Are you sure...? I mean..." She looked away, suddenly not quite sure what she wanted to say. This was a big step for him. Asking someone to stay with him. Hell, this whole trip took him out of his comfort zone. Maka didn't meet his eyes, she stared away and at the buttons on the elevator. She sighed. "I'm saying we all thought you might...prefer...to have your own room. Do you want to stay with someone? Like...if I stayed with you I wouldn't leave at the end of the day. I would stay there to sleep...are you ok with that?" She found her own heartbeat raise in her ears... why was that? Was she nervous? Or just worried.

Most likely just worrying about him. Yes, that was all it was.

Crona stared back at her, noticing how she wouldn't look at him. Just now he started to REALLY think about it... yes, he would love to have Maka next to him at the end of the day, and to see her right after he woke up, he would love to have her all day, every day and all night... but that wasn't right. He just had noticed what he had asked her to do, and now he felt the sudden urge to ram his head against something really sharp. Really, how could he have asked her that? Maybe his fear of solitude blinded him... or maybe it was madness coming back in a new form of stupidity. Yes, definitely something around that.

He had slept in Maka's apartment a lot of times, so much that she had arranged a little room for him, but this was different... it would be just the two of them. Of course Maka would feel weirded out, how could he be so stupid?

"I... I was just saying! Just in case Tsubaki was... b-but its alright!" Crona tried to fix his own words, giving Maka a nervous smile. Fortunately for him, the elevator ringed, opening its doors to one of the highest floors of the hotel. It seemed that Kid had arranged rooms on the same floor... Crona guessed that because they passed next to a door with the number "88" on it, and his own room was just 2 doors away.

Crona fidgeted with his suitcase, just noticing how Maka was carrying not only her backpack, but also her luggage. He wanted to offer her some help, but he knew Maka wouldn't accept it. She was proud like that.

"W-we should leave your things first, y-you are carrying them everywhere." He said, trying by all means to change the subject.

The pair began to walk down the hallway when Crona had blurted out. Maka glanced back at him, giving him a small smile.

"Hmm? Oh, don't worry about me. Besides I don't know who I am staying with. So I don't really have a room yet." Crona didn't say anything more as Maka studied the doors up ahead. Examining the spacious corridor for the right door.

"Ah...here." Maka trudged along to the correct door and unlocked it. The door giving a tell tale click as it released its hold. Maka pushed down and swung the door open wide. "Do you mind if I store my things in here for now? I can move them later...unless..." Maka caught herself just in time. She was about to say: unless I stay here. She clamped her mouth shut. She didn't want to assume. She loved spending time with him, in fact she would most likely be here with him most of the time anyway. But to share a space and sleep here? She wasn't sure if Crona was ok with that. And she just couldn't bring herself to ask.

"I.. I don't mind" He managed to say, feeling his throat quite dry all of the sudden. Unless? Unless what? Crona found himself completely clueless of what she almost had said.

Not giving it much thought, he walked inside completely with his black suitcase still tightly in his grip. His black eyes looked around, noticing a wide clean room. The floor was completely covered by a cream coloured carpet, white walls, fine wooden furniture, and... surprisingly there were two beds in the room. Hadn't Kid said he would sleep alone? Why there was another bed? If he had matched everyone in pairs... yes, Crona was alone since Ragnarok didn't count... unless...

The memory of a grown obnoxious red headed man made him shudder, getting suddenly pale. Nope, nope... nope. Certainly that was NOT it...

Trying to focus on something else just to not freak out, he noticed the rather huge window in the other side of the room... or more likely, a pair of huge glass doors leading to a balcony. Great, he liked that... he loved balconies. Especially a certain balcony in Shibusen where he would sit with his best friend in the whole world almost every day. Yes, he liked balconies, balconies were nice.

A sudden pain in his back made him jump, right before a black blob took shape on top of his head. Ragnarok yawned before looking around.

"Good shit! Finally some damn class for us!" He yelled, looking around just to glance at Maka "... Just for how long are you going to stay with us, flat-chest!? We are here to rest! AND I NEED SOME REST FROM YOU!"

"Ragnarok!" Crona growled to his weapon, staring at him quite angered.

Maka twitched, her teeth instantly gritted. She managed to bite back an insult. Barely... instead she went with the coy option.

"It's nice to see you too Ragnarok." Maka tried to ignore him as she popped down her bags. Why did that thing have to be connected to poor Crona. Sometimes she forget he was there...other times it was all she could think about. Sometimes she felt she couldn't really speak freely to Crona without that thing intruding and overhearing everything. Maka felt a ball of frustration rest in her chest...quickly followed by pity for the poor boy. It was not his choice...never his choice. She should never avoid him or treat him differently because of it.

She guessed that Ragnarok had at least been good at hiding himself for this long. Even if he seemed to want to make her into his new verbal punching bag...Hmph. Good luck with that.

"Hey! You have any food!? Where is the mini bar! Crona find it!" The vile little demon shouted at Crona. Maka unzipped her backpack as she looked inside to find her hairbrush.

"They aren't free you know..." Maka spoke off hand, as she pulled the hairbrush out.

"I know that! Gimmie!" Ragnarok continued to shout. Maka had to tighten the grip on her brush as she tore off the hat she was wearing, lest she chuck the brush right at him.

Crona could do nothing but sigh, ignoring his partner's demands just to take his suitcase to the nearest bed, imitating Maka's actions. He quickly guessed that the first thing to do would be to take everything out of his suitcase... the huge closet was there for a reason, right? He glanced at the clothing in his luggage, just to sigh again. Maybe he should leave them there for a moment...

"CRONAAAA! If you don't find something to eat for me I'll keep you awake all damn night!" Ragnarok roared, giving a hard nudge on Crona's skull. The pink-haired meister winced, just to feel another pull on his hair "Why are you still standing!? FOOD! I want some of those stupid cocktails! I want shrimp! GIVE ME A DAMN LOBSTER!"

"R-Ragnarok! We are n-not here to eat!" Crona tried to explain, raising his hands just to keep the demon away from him, trying to stop all the bullying.

"You imbecile! This is a vacation! All you have to do is sleep, eat and fuck! And since I'm stuck to you, all I have is damn food! SO FEED ME!" Ragnarok yelled once again, nudging Crona's head and pulling his ears.

Maka's eye twitched... that was it.

Without any warning to the impudent creature Maka suddenly sprung into action. Pulling out her infamous book. Ragnarok just managed to turn her way as she slammed the book across his face. The harsh crash enough to make anyone flinch. Oh that felt good...too good. She let the book drop to her side. Even as Ragnarok slumped over his meister's head, in apparent defeat.

"You can eat later!" Maka yelled at him. "Besides there is more to life then eating, sleeping and...fucking!" The weapon didn't answer her. He seemed to be out for the count.

Crona could only stare above his head as Ragnarok seemed to melt back inside his body, dragging his dented head with him. Having Maka around was always good, especially in those moments when Ragnarok got out of control. Sighing, he tried to fix his hair with his slender fingers, knowing how much his weapon could annoy Maka.

"I-I'm sorry Maka." He apologized for his partner, knowing he didn't have to... but he always feared that one day Maka would push herself away of him just because of his weapon. Like, he saw how Maka preferred just to be as far away from Black Star as possible, and certainly Ragnarok was a lot worse than Black Star... he didn't want her to step away from him too. "I-I'll make it up to you, I promise."

The female meister blinked in surprise at his words. Crona always did think he was responsible for the rude weapon. Even when he really wasn't. He really was connected to his weapon. In the worst possible way. Maka tossed the book over near her backpack. She couldn't help but imagine Soul being with her twenty four seven...that would drive her insane. No Crona needed someone else around with him as much as possible.

She shook her head at the poor boy.

"No, no don't worry Crona. No need to do anything. He is just a prick is all." Maka sighed out. She glanced over the room. It sure was roomy in here. She couldn't help a smile broaden her lips as she thought about sharing the room with him. That would be so fun...plus she could stop that annoying little twit of a weapon from bullying on Crona. Oh she was so tempted now. Ah...if only she could.

Maka fidgeted as her mind actually wanted to ask if she could stay here after all...something really wanted to ask. But she clenched her hand and struggled against the bizarre urge. No, she didn't want to take advantage of him. It was selfish of her. She might as well throw herself at him. No there was plenty of time to see him over the holiday. Loads of opportunities.

Maka made her way over and placed her hat back on her head, fixing it just right in place.

It was weird for Crona to see Maka with something beside her pigtails. Yet it wasn't a bad kind of weird... it would never be that kind of weird with Maka. Oh no, with her golden hair falling down her back and that cute hat on top... she looked beautiful. Actually, everything suited Maka just nicely, and the poor swordsman could do nothing but stare at her. She was an angel, his angel, even if she didn't know...

It was only when his eyes met hers, that he noticed just how much he was staring. Yelping in surprise, he blushed madly before dodging her stare, looking at everywhere except her. Well, that was awkward of him, but that wasn't news... he knew he was awkward. Just standing there, doing nothing, staring at his best friend fixing her hat...

"U-uh... a-and what are you s-supposed to do in a beach? I mean... w-what now?" He asked, having no clue of what to do. The plan was getting a room, and next? He had absolutely no clue at all of what to do or where to go. It was kind of funny if you think about it, since his soul was actually a little island in an endless sea.

Maka looked back at him, then up to the ceiling as she thought on his question. A finger resting on her chin.

"Hmmm...well once I have my room sorted..." Maka trailed off. Her eyes snapped back down to his. "Then we get changed into our swim wear and head to the beach." She felt silly explaining that little detail. But she wanted to make sure he understood. "... there you can do whatever you want to do. You can sunbathe, or swim in the water, or play volleyball or build a sandcastle..." Maka listed off the activities she had done on a beach. Each one she sounded out she tapped a different finger.

"What do you want to do Crona?" Maka smiled at him, moving her arms behind her back and entwining her fingers together.

Did she really need to ask? What he wanted to do was plain obvious... well not actually, at least not to her, and Crona was glad about that. Yet, would it be weird just to say it? Probably.

He thought about the option, but in reality it was like trying to answer a very hard question from an exam you didn't study for. He just had no idea of what to choose, because he had never done any of that! Sunbathe? How can you bath in the sun? Is that even possible? The sun probably wouldn't be happy about that, and his smile was a little to frightening to even think about swimming around it. Swim? He knew how to swim, yet it was not his favourite thing to do... he was kind of afraid of drowning. Sandcastle? Why would they need to make a sandcastle? Was that possible? Did they even have time for that? How could they build a castle in just a week? Every single thing sounded way too hard for him, and soon enough he sighed in defeat.

"I... I just want to spend some time with you." Was his most sincere answer, lowering his gaze almost in a shameful way, the words barely whispered in the air. He didn't want to bother Maka, much less ruin her time in the beach... but she had always said to him that honesty was always the best answer.

Maka felt a bit taken back by his words. She felt a rush of nerves and a slight awkward feeling. It wasn't like she was his only friend in the world. There was the others. He must want to spend time with them all...and not just her...no he didn't mean just her. She was reading him wrong. She must be...

"Oh...err... well...hmmm..." She fumbled with her words. Suddenly she had an idea. She clapped her hands together as her eyes lit up. "I know! How about we just have a nice quiet drink at the hotel bar? Most of the people will be out at the beach already. I think the others will be rushing over there too...we can catch up." Maka felt like patting herself on the back. Yes, he needed to adjust slowly. And being in a nice quiet area, at least at first would be good for him. Even if it was only the two of them.

Though that was a good thing, he was often so quiet in the group he got left behind in the conversations. She loved to engage him and just…talk.

"How about that?"

Crona raised his head, looking at her with his deep dark eyes. She meant... alone? He liked that, a lot. Not like he didn't like the others, absolutely not... But sometimes they were just too much. Kid was too esoteric and Crona didn't know him well, if not at all, but Liz and Patty were alright. He liked Tsubaki, yet again he knew little to nothing about her, Black Star was plain scary to him... And Soul...

Maka on the other hand, was... Perfect. She was perfect, there was no other word he could use to describe her. She understood him, he could understand her, she was the calm his own soul needed the most. So, you would understand if, above all his so called friends, the one he truly wanted to be with, would be Maka.

The mere thought of being with her the whole day was... so perfect! Crona couldn't help but smile, giving Maka one of his most sincere warm and authentic smiles. That little smile that only she could provoke on him.

"T-that sounds good." He said to her, still wearing that small smile, feeling his face a little too hot. He always felt like that around Maka.

Maka smiled at him, his face lit up at her question. It wasn't quite the sun, but like the grinning moon had finally risen into the darkness. Something small and often overlooked, but when the time came. She was glad to see it. Good, she was pleased. She had meant to have some alone time with just him and her. She had planned to do that all along. Though she had to admit...not quite just yet. She thought he would want to spend time with them all together, and then he might want to have some time with just a few of them. Like Liz and Patty had a lot of fun with him the other day.

However Maka couldn't help but admit to herself that she was excited. She had been secretly looking forward to spending some personal time with the swordsman. Though that just made her feel bad...she loved hanging out with her other friends still of course. She guessed it was just the fact that they were on holiday...and she wanted to watch over Crona. Yeah...that was it.

"Right ok then! It's a date!" Woops... Maka flinched. Why did she just say that? Now she sounded like some creep pushing a date onto him. She didn't mean to say that...it just came out. "I-I mean...um." Maka giggled uncomfortably. Screw it...maybe if she just pretended she didn't slip up Crona wouldn't notice. "Right...anyway. I'll just be going to sort out my room, 'kay?"

Maka turned and headed for the door, back down to the lobby where she hoped to find the others. Just as she reached out for the door handle she turned to him once more. To find his eyes watching her.

"I'll be back soon, you settle in here. I won't be long." And with that she disappeared beyond the barrier. Closing the door with a small click.

Crona meanwhile just stood there, frozen in place, pale like paper and just staring at the door. He didn't say anything, not because he didn't have anything to say, but because... He was out of words. Date?... Did she just say "Date"? Like... Date, date? That kind of date? No! Of course not, she would never…

Would she?

Secretly he started having a very small panic attack, feeling the room crushing on him. Date!? But.. But.. Really!? No, it cant be, maybe was some other kind of date! Like... Friends date! Yes, those were called dates too, right? Yes, silly him, of course. Yet he couldn't help but blush madly at the thought. A date with Maka... That's what heaven surely looked like. Of course, just like heaven, that was unreachable to him.

He sighed, a long deep sigh, thinking about his best friend in the world. He just was being greedy, he should be happy just by having Maka in his life. A whole week at the beach with Maka...

And the others! Yes, of course, don't forget the others. With a defeated sigh, he started unpacking.

In the corridor, Soul and the others were walking with their luggage, searching for their rooms. Crona was right, they all had rooms in the same floor, and Kid was quite happy for having the room 88.

"Eighty eight Kid? Seriously? You know that is the kind of number where a murder happened in the movies, right?" Soul grinned, trying to piss off the perfectionist shinigami.

"I wont hear any of it." Kid just said, walking elegantly through the corridor with his hands in his black shorts, with symmetrical white stripes at both sides. His white cotton shirt moving slightly thanks to the air conditioner in the corridor. Patty laughed behind him, already wearing her Giraffe shaped wheel on her waist.

"Lets just drop all these things and run to the beach! I'll conquer all those waves! I'll show the sea god who is the biggest man here!" Black Star yelled, laughing loudly.

"You mean Prometheus?" Tsubaki wondered, looking at Black Star just stomping the red carpet on his walk.

"That is if you don't drown first." Liz said, feeling like the only sane person in the whole place... "Ey, where's Maka?"

"Probably giving a tour to Crona." Kid said with a knowing smile.

"How uncool, leaving us like that." Soul muttered, but yet again that WAS Maka, he should have expected that. Just as he was lifting his head, he noticed Maka walking down the corridor "Speaking of which! Ey!"

Soul called her, grinning.

"We are going to the beach, come join us, I'll rent a water motorcycle!" He said with an excited grin "If you are nice, I'll give you a ride!"

Maka heard her name being called, she was musing in her own little world. Thinking on the drink at the bar she would be having with Crona. Having just the two of them there. She felt a bit light just thinking about it, her heart fluttered at the thought. Wait...was that normal?

But she didn't have the chance to think more on it. As she perked her head up to see the whole group before her. They wore smiles on their lips, but Maka swore their eyes bore accusing stares. Maka grimaced slightly. But she pretended there was nothing wrong. After all. Why would there be anything wrong? She hadn't done anything out of the ordinary...right?

"Hey Soul. Guys." Maka nodded to them. Their faces softened when she spoke. Or did she imagine that?

"Hey Maka. How is Crona?" Tsubaki spoke to her, her soft smiling face full of warmth. Maka turned to her, she was still holding her bags. Good, Maka would be able to ask her if she could share a room with her in a bit. Tsubaki wore simple wear just like the rest of them. Small shorts with a thin almost see through pale shirt. Her hair was still tied up as it always was. Maka's eyes panned to Soul for a second. She didn't really want to ask her with him here. She didn't want to bring up the whole room thing again. She wasn't in the mood.

"He's ok. He has a room to himself. Hopefully he'll settle in quickly." Maka caught a sudden movement, of Black Star nudging Soul on the arm. They grinned at each other. What was that for? "Anyway are you all on this floor then?"

The group all nodded to her. Liz piped up next.

"Hey Maka who are you staying with? Soul said he and Black Star are together." She asked her, a small smile peaking at her lips. Her hands leaning on her hips. She wore the tiniest shorts Maka had ever seen, they might as well have been a belt. Accompanied with a tiny material which Maka guessed was a shirt that showed off her flat stomach. Patty of course wore the same outfit, they both wore fashionable sunglasses atop their heads.

Maka acknowledged her and threw up her own hand, splaying the fingers as she talked.

"I thought it would be nice for him and Black Star to share a room. It would give me a bit of peace at least." Black Star seemed to take that sentence a bit wrong, as he suddenly grabbed Soul around the waist and hefted him into the air.

"Yay Soul! Aren't you looking forward to spending time with the mighty Black Star!?" Soul only cringed as he was lifted into the air, trying to wriggle free of the assassin's grip.

"Hey! Dude get off!" Maka ignored the pair.

"Anyway...hey Tsubaki as Black Star is with Soul now do you want to group up?" She asked of her. Giving her an inviting grin. But Tsubaki blinked in confusion at her, losing her own smile.

"Oh...I'm sorry Maka." She voiced, the sound wavering as she prepared to admit something. "Liz asked me downstairs to share with her. After all they both can't stay with Kid. Sorry Maka..." She sighed, forcing a small smile back to her features. "Though, your papa was looking for you. I think he wants to share a room with you." Maka cringed, biting into her lip at the mention of her Papa. Images of having to spend time with the man crept into her mind. Between him fawning over her and bringing girls back to their room...urgh. Maka pinched the bridge of her nose as she stood there. No way. Not even if he was the last person in the world.

"Not a chance." Maka's voice darkened. Curtly replying to Tsubaki. Soul had by now managed to untangle himself from Black Star and stood slight hunched over with his hands on his knees panting.

"So what are you gonna do then Maka? I can still stay with you." Soul spoke, perhaps a little too quickly. Maka's gaze panned back to him. She shook her head, her hands also coming up as she waved them negatively.

"Oh no, that would just mess everyone up. Don't worry...I'll sort something out." Maka looked back the way she came. Back down the corridor. "I think...I'll just go see Crona about something..." Maka turned and began to walk back to Crona's room.

"Maka!" Soul's voice yelled out to her. Maka stopped and turned back to him. "What about the beach? You in?" He grinned at her, that famous sharp grin of his. Maka couldn't meet his gaze, a small lump of guilt formed in her gut. She did promise to come...but she had already made plans with Crona. There was no way she could bail on him. That was just cruel.

"Oh sorry...you guys go have fun. I'll catch up with you later!" Maka waved them off and carried on down the corridor. Why didn't she admit that she was seeing Crona? She felt dirty and sleazy...as if she was doing something wrong...but she wasn't...was she? Maka shook her head as she leant a hand against her forehead.

She missed Soul's fist clench at her words.

Inside Crona's room, the pinkette finished moving his clothes to the wardrobe, not because he was fast but because he brought close to no clothes at all. Liz had said to him that he should buy clothes in the beach stores... He didn't like that idea, he wasn't too good at buying things. Staring at the drawer in front of him, he decided that he should change clothes. He would have dinner with Maka, right? He should wear something nice.

He still felt giddy with the thought of spending time with Maka. Maybe they could eat ice-cream together... while walking on the beach. Probably at night? He wasn't too fond of walking around in almost no clothes with so many people in close to no clothes. The beach was scary... But maybe at night it would be better, when everyone left.

Thinking deeply about that, he took off his grey T-shirt, staring down at his skinny body. How was he supposed to walk around showing off his disgusting body? He frowned, gently rubbing his stone-hard chest, down to his ribs, just to caress the only thing that could make him smile. There, in the middle of his stomach, was an angry black scar. It looked painful, and the black scar tissue had a few black veins around it, almost like a tattoo. He knew there was another scar on his back, matching the one on his belly. He kept on smiling, looking down at the proof that he could be useful, he could do what had to be done, he could be brave... the proof he protected Maka.

He stood there in his shorts, gently scratching his scar while holding a new fresh white shirt in his free hand.

Maka walked briskly back to Crona's room. It was down the way and a little distance away from the group. For some reason she wanted to get out of the corridor, she didn't feel right. Something felt very off...and being out in this corridor she was struggling to breathe. Almost as if she was having her own small panic attack. But she didn't understand...why? She felt like a child being interrogated by her mother. Asking whether she had her hand in the cookie jar. When it was quite clearly obvious she had. She just didn't want to admit it.

Maka stopped before Crona's door. She peeked round and down the corridor, she could make out the far forms of her friends. Maka hoped Crona would open the door quickly. She didn't want to be out here anymore. Her heart began to pound in her ears...it was all she could hear. Was it hot in this corridor? Well...more then it was a few minutes ago. Maka puffed out a gush of air from her lips, the air brushed across her face and blew her fringe away from her face for a second. However the action was futile as the hair immediately fell back to its original position.

Maka readied herself and steadied her hand, what was she doing? This was just Crona... it was just like knocking on the door of Tsubaki or Liz. It was just the same. Or so her mind told her. Yet in her heart...it was not. The shy swordsman she had pulled from the jaws of madness. The one person who understood her soul even better then Soul did. The one person she had not hesitated to wrap up with her wavelength, to soothe and calm him. She wasn't the type of person to do that...but with him, it was like an automatic reaction. She just...did it. Almost without thinking...

Crona was different from anyone she knew. Maka was in the process of raising her hand...when she froze at that thought. Her heart jumped into her throat. She didn't understand this. She had never experienced something like this. It made no sense to her. It wasn't something she could explain away.

She shook her head. No, he was just a friend. Maybe even best friends...a cute term. And nothing more. She didn't want to be some girl looking for a flirt and a relationship. She cringed at herself. She wasn't like that at all. And the thought of doing such a thing with Crona...made her almost hate herself. What would he think of her? Maka felt embarrassed. No...don't even put him in such a position. It was too cruel. With a hardened heart Maka knocked on the wooden door.

Maka expected the door to open almost instantly...she was surprised when it didn't. She waited there...and waited...Maka stole another glance down the hallway. Her friends were still there. They had not looked up at her yet. She didn't want them to, she wanted to escape their stares. She prayed for the door to open...what was taking so long? C'mon...

Suddenly the door was pulled open a crack, not enough for her to enter. And a flash of pink was at the crack. The door visibly shook as if the holder of the handle was unsure and nervous as to how to do something as simple as greet a guest. Maka beamed a smile to him. As if to try and comfort him without words.

"Hi Crona." She spoke. Once again without thinking. She always seemed to just react around him, and never think on her words. Why did she do that? The shaking of the door immediately ceased. The door pulled open wider, Crona was always ready to let her in. To his room, his space... But Maka didn't enter just yet. She leaned in a bit closer so no one else would hear. "Sorry…but I don't have a room to go to now..." Maka lost eye contact with him, but forced herself to once again look him in the eye. "…Is it ok...if I stay here?"

Crona's white shirt looked messy, like hastily shoved into his head, complementing the always messy look of his hair. His dark eyes scanned Maka, as if he was trying to figure out if she was real or just an illusion of his crazy mind. It certainly was an illusion, haha, how funny... Hallucinating about Maka asking him to stay with him...

Yet, the so called hallucination still stood there, unmoving, waiting. Crona stepped back, allowing Maka to get inside the hotel room. As soon as she got inside and closed the door, the demon swordsman noticed reality... It wasn't an illusion. Stiff as a board, the nervous meister felt heat raising in his face.

Just what did she mean? Ah, stupid him! Of course he knew what she meant! She wanted to share the room with him, that meant... Sleeping together. Oh god, he shouldn't have thought that. He felt faint, his mind making thousands of scenarios of how things could go wrong right there and then. And... Was that even right? Didn't Maka say something about girls being with girls?

"Ah... Ah..." He babbled, unable to answer to her question. YES, was what he wanted to say, but a more primitive fear, deep inside of him, was telling him that it wasn't a good idea. Yet, she said she had run out of options... Which meant he was her last option.

For some reason, that thought hurt. And yet, that meant if he said no (not like he wanted to, anyway) she would have no room to stay.

"Ah... Y-yes! S-sure M-Maka, yes..." Damn stutter, it made him sound stupid, and he hated it. Yet he couldn't help it, he always felt nervous next to Maka. "I-is it ok? I mean... I can leave the room to you... Ah... I d-don't want to m-make you feel u-uncomfortable... I-I can try to s-share with s-someone else!"

And he meant it, he would damn sleep in the corridor just for her, even if there were two beds in the room. If he was her last option, he would try to make it up to her.

Maka felt a shiver run across the back of her neck, followed by a flutter once more of her heart. She quickly turned to alleviate his fears.

"Don't be silly Crona. I want you to stay here with me. It'll be fun." Yes. It would be fun. And uncomfortable for her. Not because of him…no far from it. He was doing nothing wrong. The perfect gentleman. It was her...her own crummy feelings. Feelings getting in the way and making her feel slimy. God...she needed to stop it. She tried to act as if everything was fine. Nothing was wrong.

"In fact I'm glad I'm here with you Crona." Oh god that didn't sound right. God why can't she think before she opens her damn mouth. No...maybe it did sound right. Maybe she was thinking about this too much. How did it look to him? Was this wrong? Was she wrong...argh. Maka felt a blush rise to her cheeks as her mind span in circles. Stop thinking, stop it now.

This wasn't like how she was with Soul and the other guys. But they were so different to Crona. Crona was unsure, nervous, the way he looked at her. She just wanted to hold him. No...no she didn't. She meant help him...yeah. She felt her face continue to redden. She was being so stupid with her inner war with herself. Crona must think she was being weird now...

"I'm sorry...I'm just gonna go to the bathroom..." Maka quickly dashed off and plunged into the door to escape. The bathroom inside was a standard affair, pristine white ceramic adorning the room. Fluffy white towels, the tiny bottles of liquid that claimed to do everything. Maka huffed to herself as she stood over the sink. She leaned over it and stared at her face in the mirror. She was bright red. How embarrassing. If that was any other guy she would never hear the end of it. But not with Crona, never with Crona. Oh god...maybe this was a mistake. She shouldn't be here...what if she said something wrong? She just wanted to spend time with him. This is all it was.

Why was something trying to sabotage her? It had started a few days ago. She began to watch him. See him in a different light. Her mind and heart showing her bizarre images she had to hide. No one could know.

No one could know the obsession that began to plague her thoughts. She was being disgusting. She gritted her teeth. She was NOT her papa. That scumbag.

Maka quickly turned the tap on, watching the water gush from the pipe. She threw her hands under it and splashed the water onto her face. Hoping that would help. In fact it did...she sighed as she decided to try again and leave the room.

Crona could hear the tap water flowing, leaning his head slightly. Maybe she was hot, indeed the room was way too warm, he could feel it in his own cheeks. A little shy smile crept on his face, just the thought of Maka actually enjoying being with him managed to make him feel... well... Happy. Happiness was such an alien feeling for him, yet he was getting used to such feeling. He felt... alive, filled, complete... and it only happened around Maka.

Yes, his other friends could made him happy too, but there was this weird overwhelming happiness that only happened around Maka. Only Maka could made him feel that way... so complete. And now, now he would be able to stay with her not only during the day, but also during the night. That last detail was a little scary...

A little? Really? It was bloody terrifying! What if he said something wrong? What if he talked in his sleep? What if he snored too loudly? Oh god, he couldn't deal with that! He didn't want to bother Maka!

"You'll worry about that later, idiot! This may be your chance to get your cherry popped!" The sly voice of Ragnarok sounded in a whisper, making Crona fidget in the middle of the room.

"W-what cherry, Ragnarok? I have no food with me." The swordsman answered, quite confused.

"You bloody idiot! You are so stupid you don't know how stupid you are! I mean your..." Ragnarok couldn't end his sentence, hearing Maka about to leave the bathroom, keeping quiet in an instant.

Crona frowned, not understanding his words at all. But... Maybe he was right, he would worry about that later... Right now they had a whole day in the beach... Just the two of them.

"M-Maka?" Crona called her, worry showing in his eyes. Maybe she was feeling ill after the airplane travel "A-Are you alright? W-we can go f-for some ice-cream if you f-feel ill."

That was the only thing he could think about. Every time he was feeling down, Maka would take him out to eat ice cream with her. That always made him feel a lot better, always.

As soon as Maka exited the bathroom she looked up to what Crona had said. Ice cream? Maka sighed happily.

"That sounds like a great idea." She eagerly replied. She hoped the redness had gone from her face. She had started to feel better in the bathroom...but now that she was out and with him in this room again. She felt that embarrassment come back tenfold. She inwardly cursed herself. She blinked to try and force her mind on another issue, her eyes wandered, from his face and down his body. She wondered what he looked like under those clothes, granted his usual robe didn't leave much to the imagination on his shape...but...she wasn't sure. The way he stood and hid, she wanted to see him.

Wait.

What was she doing? She snapped her head back up to him. She needed to get out of this room. She needed fresh air. She had to stop herself from fleeing back into the bathroom.

The swordsman actually puffed his chest with pride, happy of knowing he had a good idea. Remembering what Kid had said to him about what he should always carry with him, he quickly grabbed the key to the bedroom and a black wallet with Lord Death's mask in it. Kid's gift, of course, as everything else he now had in his new life. Barely getting used to it all, Crona still struggled with doing everyday things that other people would consider easy.

Just a year ago, the only thing he knew how to do was killing. No one who looked at him for the first time would ever guess he used to be a serial killer, a demon. But not anymore, he didn't want to even think about that, he wanted to enjoy his new life, a life Maka had gave to him.

That same beautiful girl who now stood in front of him. She made his stomach flutter, his cheeks go red and his knees to feel weak. He wanted to walk at her side, to hear her wonderful laugh, to listen to her fears and dreams. He wanted to hold her hand, and feel her hugs...

Wait, that wasn't creepy... Was it?

"M-maybe there's ice cream in the hotel b-bar?" He wondered, trying to think where could they go. The whole place was beautiful, but he wanted a not so crowded place, just something nice and quiet where they could be alone... He didn't like people staring at them, like it used to happen in Death City. Holding his right arm with his left hand, he took a deep sigh.

Why they should go out in the first place, anyway? He still felt like this wasn't "relaxing" at all. Relaxing for him meant a movie night in Maka's house, sitting close to her, or reading books together... Well, maybe it would change at the end of the day? He hoped so.

He just wanted to be close to her and drown in the calm that Maka's soul wavelength always give him.

"Let's go look then." Maka grinned at him. Happy that he had suggested something for a change. That in itself was actually quite bizarre. In fact her little heart skipped a beat when he had spoken up. She usually had to push and poke him into making a decision. Some sort of input, he would often get pulled away in conversations and just watch from the sidelines.

In fact Soul had told her on more then one occasion to stop getting him to join in, he would join in when ready and not before. But Maka just huffed at such comments. She wasn't bullying him. Not at all. She was only trying to help. And this proved it. He had just voiced his opinion. Without any prompt from her. He was making such progress. She was proud of him. Soul was wrong for a change, well he was often wrong. But not when it came to people.

Maka watched as Crona grabbed the key to the room. She had no spare for herself. Something she would have to maybe sort out later. But for now it was fine. She checked her own pockets. Purse and phone. Done. She glanced at her bags, now that she was staying here she would need to sort them out later. Maka was just about to head out the door and ask him to follow...but she suddenly wanted to see how far this new impulsive opinionated streak would go.

She stood back and waited for him to make his move.

Crona stood there, ready to go out and start his day with Maka, so deep into his own little world that he didn't notice his own actions. Even if the beach was a scary... somewhat disturbing... place, he would be with Maka! And Maka had been so excited about that place for the last week, that Crona actually wanted to really know what all the fuss was about. Yes, he was scared, but... Maka had such an effect on him, that he felt like he could face pretty much everything as long as she were with him. The whole thing was stressful and scary, but his blonde angel had said it would be fun... he trusted Maka.

Stepping out of the room, he looked around just to see no one in the corridor. Weird, he could have sworn he heard the guys just a moment ago. Fixing his messy white shirt, he still had trouble matching the damn buttons. Clothes were hard and confusing! Buttons, zippers, belts, laces... that's why he preferred his robe. While fighting with one of his buttons, he looked back just to see Maka still in the room, just staring at him.

"M-Maka?" He called for her, staring back with his big dark eyes, looking at her like a loyal puppy ready to follow her command.

That Crona standing in the door frame, was almost a completely different person from the mad man she met almost a year ago. Still shy, still hunched, still scared of pretty much everything... because everything was new for him. And yet, the ocean of his soul was no longer dry. Inside of him waves of life sounded just as strong as the ones just outside the window.

It was this new life, a life Maka gave to him, what made him wait for her like a humble servant. The Black Dragon, The Demon Swordsman, standing on the doorframe waiting for her with hopeful eyes and a little almost shy smile.

"Alright alright I'm coming." Maka sighed out, shrugging her shoulders as if in response to a complaint. Of course she knew he wasn't complaining. She was just poking fun. It was nice to see him leading the way. Even if he did look back at her with that weak little look. As if begging to take him away from the lead role. She stepped forward and gave him a gentle push out of the doorway. Stepping out and into the corridor. She shut the door behind her and pushed it just to check it was locked. The door rocked but held.

Maka checked down the hallway, the others had vanished. Maybe still in their rooms...or hopefully already gone to the beach.

"C'mon Crona." Maka smiled at him and turned to face him. She reached out and grabbed his hand in her own before briskly walking off toward the elevator.

* * *

**Akire Rosales**: did you like it? We hope so! Remember to drop reviews to me and Ludifer! You can always review her story The Other Side if you want to give her a special review from this story! She'll love it!

Keep a watchful eye! This story will have a sister fanfic that will have all the side-stories!.. and the first one is M-rated CroMa! *pervy grin* But it wont be in this account, it will be on Ludifer's. While you wait for the next update, are you still hungry for more CroMa? Why don't you go read The Other Side meanwhile? Or even my other story "Whispers"? We'll be waiting!

DROP A REVIEW FOR US!


	2. Chapter 2

**Akire Rosales**: Im not making you wait anymore! Enjoy!

**DISCLAIMER:** This is a collaboration fanfic between me and Ludifer, so go search for her fics and read them! That's an order straight from Ciel Phantomhive!... wait, that doesnt make sense in this story...

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**Chapter 2**

**"Beach is terrifying!**

**Why do I feel like this?"**

They got out of the hotel... sort of. Actually just walking down to the elevator and to the lobby was a whole new... traumatizing... experience for Crona. When they got there, the swordsman was just too amazed by the view that he hadn't really noticed just HOW MANY people were on the beach. And not only that...

They were almost naked.

Like, he saw a couple people before... but THIS MUCH!? Everyone was naked! Wearing nothing but little bras and little shorts and... well yes, alright, they were bathing suits... but they were no different to panties! What was the difference between a bathing suit and underwear!? He couldn't deal with that! And worse... there were so many people who just SHOULDN'T walk around showing their bodies. Women were pretty scary, but most men actually made him shudder, some men looked more like bears! How was that even possible? Crona didn't remember even Free having that much body hair.

Traumatizing, to say the least.

Was he supposed to do that? Like... taking off his clothes and walking around in nothing but FRIGGIN UNDERWEAR!? He felt naked enough just by wearing those black shorts and his almost translucent white shirt. Really, he should stop letting Liz and Patty choose his wardrobe.

... Would Maka try and use a bathing suit too?...

NOPE. BAD THOUGHTS! Be gone bad thoughts! He randomly shook his head while walking with Maka, squeezing her hand just a little bit to feel a little of her, trying to suck some of her strength and calm. After searching for quite a while around the hotel, they finally found what looked like a calm café with palm trees covering the elegant little tables. He still had his sneakers on, which he now found out was a bad idea since sand was already finding its way inside of them. Why was the beach such a fuss? It was hot, noisy, filled with sand, and overall scary!

Yet again, everyone around was smiling, running around, playing with giant colourful balls, swimming in the sea... were those kids building a castle?... Oh, now that's what Maka meant. Now he felt quite retarded. Now that he looked around, trying to ignore people as much as he could, he started to notice the beach as a place... it wasn't that bad.

"T-The sound..." He stuttered, calling Maka's attention while they headed to the Hotel Cafe "I t-think is... nice... uh, I wish I could hear it without s-so many people y-yelling..."

He was referring about the sound of the sea. Just the sound of waves crashing against the sand. It was a relaxing sound, and certainly a sound that reminded him of Maka.

Maka gazed over the small cafe that was close to the beach but also the hotel. It was like an enclosed space for just tourists. Maka felt the hot air on her skin. This was nice. Nothing like the cloying heat of death city, this was warmth personified. This was relaxing and calming. She wanted nothing more then to sit down and let her muscles stop working quite so hard. An odd feeling for her, usually she never wanted to sit there and waste time. But here, with the overbearing sun overhead. She wanted to.

Only a few patrons sat around the cafe, not too bad for a first stop. They sat around and drank from ice cold glasses or shared a sugary dessert. Maka thought nothing of the people and their clothes, in fact now she felt overdressed. She glanced down at herself...maybe she should have gotten changed after all. She gripped the hem of her t-shirt, she felt damp with sweat. Ah well...too late now. She looked back to Crona.

"Yeah it's nice isn't it?" Maka replied automatically. "It's quieter in the evenings." She added, once again not quite thinking it through. Just stating a fact. But she now noticed his eyes. They were no longer on her, but snapped from one person to another...his hand gripped hers tighter as he stared around him. What was wrong...? Maka looked back. Then her brain decided to kick in.

She was pretty sure she warned him about this on the plane...but then again he was a bit drowsy then. Did he even remember it? She turned back to him, her face all serious.

"Are you ok?" His eyes snapped to hers in an instant. "Remember what I told you on the plane? This is normal..." Maka leaned in a bit closer to him, giving his hand a comforting squeeze. "People wear swimwear like this as it is so hot. And as we are on the beach. And so they can go swimming..." Maka found herself struggling to explain. She said something a bit clearer on the plane...she was sure of it. But she hoped it got through.

"Y-yes..." He nodded, shifting back his attention to Maka, smiling a bit for her. He gently rubbed Maka's hand with his thumb, thanking her. "B-but... seeing it is... well..."

No one could blame the swordsman for freaking out a little after seeing so many people with barely any clothes. One thing was to be warned about it, and the other one, quite different, to actually see it. And even like that, he started to wonder how his friends would look like in bathing suits. Certainly Liz and Patty would find a way to stay classy, but he tried not to think about it... thinking about her female friends with bathing suits felt just wrong. The boys on the other side... he really didn't want to see Soul without his shirt...

Absentmindedly, Crona lifted his free hand to rub his own stomach. Soul would look good in a bathing suit, even with... "that" in his chest, a reminder of his own sins. Crona liked his own, the scar that once almost took his life, but... he looked gross. He was pale and skinny, with his ribs showing off and absolutely no abs like his friends. He didn't want Maka to see him with so little clothes, he would feel embarrassed. He had never liked his own body, or anything about himself for that matter, but he liked that scar... proof of what he was able to do. That scar made him feel useful, worthy... brave.

Just the thought that he might actually HAVE to take off his clothes... He really didn't want to, but now that he looked around, he found out that would be quite a selfish thing to do. Maka wanted to enjoy herself on the beach, and she wouldn't do that if she just stood with him doing nothing. He wanted to be with her and please her... just now reality was starting to sink in the swordsman's head.

Ripping his own eyes off the floor, Crona decided that he should try to do more things out of his comfort zone, just for Maka. She had that effect on him, she was the only one who could take him off his thick shell, even if she didn't know how strong that effect was. Picking up a somewhat hidden, yet nice looking spot in the cafe, Crona took a deep breath, puffing his chest before holding Maka's hand with determination.

Just for a second, though.

"W-what about that p-place?" He asked, turning his eyes to her, really wanting to hear her opinion.

Maka turned to where he pointed to. Her eyes scanned the secluded spot, it was well shaded and out of the way of most of the other tables. That made sense to her. But she was fine with it. She didn't often pick to be right in the centre anyway. She often liked her own space to read or study, only sitting right in the centre when she was with the others. Well namely Black Star, as he just had to be the centre of attention.

Maka huffed slightly to herself, she didn't want to be thinking on him right now, when she was with Crona.

"Looks great..." Maka nodded and began to walk to the table. Impressed that Crona had made another decision without being pushed. This was a good day for him. Maybe this vacation was a good idea, maybe a change of pace and scenery helped him. Crona still held her hand tightly, not enough to hurt, but enough to know that no simple slip or tug would pull him off. That was fine with her. "...I hope the menu is on the table." She spoke absently to herself.

They popped themselves down on the seats around the table, the table was meant for four. But it was fine and plenty of room for two. It was past lunch but too early for dinner so the place was practically empty. Maka let go of Crona's hand, she instantly felt empty, as if a piece of her soul was left behind with him. She didn't look up at him though, and quickly buried herself in the menu. As if she had not felt a horrible sinking feeling, not being able to touch his skin with her own. She tried to concentrate on the words before her, but her mind wouldn't stop thinking about their lost touch...for a second she thought about holding out her hand. To ease the hole in her mind. But she pushed it down, deep down and buried it. Then placed said buried earth in a chest and plunged that into the ocean...Maka gulped as she now began to actually recognise the writing on the menu.

"...sooo...what do you fancy?" Maka spoke to him, hoping her voice was steady. She flipped over the menu so he could see it.

"F-Fancy?... there are fancy food out there too? I-I thought it was just Liz's c-clothes..." He said with a pout, looking straight at the menu, missing completely Maka's stare. Why was she chucking anyway?

He did little to hide his own weird feelings in his hands. He rubbed them a bit, feeling that tickling, that void... as if rubbing them against each other would fix it. That was normal for him, it happened every time he touched with Maka, it was a wonderful tickling, warm and exciting. The bad part was when it was over, leaving him grasping in the dark for a friend you've lost.

Quickly enough he stopped rubbing his strong yet skinny hands, holding the menu close to his face. Ugh, why he had to choose? He hated choosing! Well, not hated... it was just uncomfortable for him. You gotta understand, right? He spent his whole life just following orders, doing what everyone else wanted him to do, he was good at following orders... doing his own will was new and terrifying, what if he choose wrong? What if his decisions messed everything up? What if he chose a flavour he didn't like and Maka would get angry at him like she always did with Soul? He suddenly felt like holding Maka's hand on the table, just to feel her support, even if he knew he had it. She was his madness stabilizer.

His throat felt suddenly dry, and he knew he was just taking too long at picking something.

"Ughuu... I can't deal with this." He mumbled, making a pout while glancing at every single treat, ice cream and milkshake available.

"YOU RETARD!" A screech sounded in his back, followed by a very known black blob taking seat on top of Crona's head "I want one of everything! Especially that huge one with three flavours and bananas! I want three of those!"

Maka snapped up her view to see that despicable black blob of a weapon form from Crona's back. So much for staying hidden... Maka made a quick look around. A few of the other patrons had noticed and had begun to whisper to each other. Great. Just what Crona needed... she didn't care. But she cared that he might.

Her eyes panned back to Ragnarok perched atop Crona's head. He was pushing down lower onto him. Pressing his weight down and causing Crona's head to buckle lower to the table. Crona didn't seem to even bother with trying to move him. Maka gritted her teeth, she wanted that thing to just go away. But he was a part of Crona...and if he was a part of Crona. She would just have to deal with him...

"You can have one dessert." Maka spoke. Stressing the "one" to him. Rag perked his head back up to her.

"Since when were you put in charge?" His screeching voice rang out. Attracting even more stares from the people, Maka caught a couple of people walk away. She pretended not to notice.

"Since I'm the one buying them." Maka replied to him, pulling out her purse and waving it in the air. But Ragnarok rolled his little ping pong ball eyes at her.

"You just don't take the hint do you cow?" Maka's eye brow twitched in irritation. "I'm not your friend! C'mon Crona we don't need her around." He whacked his own meister on the top of his head.

Crona moaned in frustration, his forehead bumping against the wooden table a couple of times while his weapon partner kept on shaking him like a mad rider abusing his horse. Why Crona kept up with Ragnarok's shit? You gotta understand, in a childhood where not even a hug was available, Ragnarok's physical abuse turned into the only source of "human" contact... sort of.

Yet... he would NOT deal with Ragnarok deciding about Maka. Raising his head, he frowned while looking at his partner, giving him his serious stare.

"I-I need her around" He said matter of factly, not really thinking about what he just said. It was the truth, and Crona didn't think twice about that. Ragnarok narrowed his round eyes.

"WE don't need anyone but US! You stupid moronic retard!" The black blood roared, getting really frustrated with his meister's stubbornness. In a fit of anger, the demon sword started pulling on Crona's hair, making him yelp in surprise.

"Q-Quit it!" Crona complained, lifting his arms trying to pull the little demon away from him. Starting to get angry himself, the pinkette growled in frustration before catching both of Ragnarok's arms in an iron grip "I wont let you eat anything during the whole vacation!"

Now THAT got Ragnarok to stop.

"... HA! You retard, I'll eat all of your damn food!"

"T-then I won't eat anything either!" Crona decided, releasing Ragnarok just to cross his arms against his own chest, frowning. "I've survived worst!"

Ragnarok stood there, frozen in place, staring at his scrawny little meister dodging his stare, completely ignoring him. The black blob stopped staring at him just to raise his glance to Maka, obviously pissed off.

"... THREE desserts! And I'll leave you both to do your gay things, don't be cheap on me you cow!"

"One or nothing! I'll leave this table, I swear!... and stop calling her that!" Crona finally snapped, giving Ragnarok a really nasty look... he almost looked like his own mother.

Maka watched the display before her, she really should interrupt them and stop the fight. But...Crona was holding his own well. She didn't want to undermine him. So she took a backseat and watched. Her eyes flicked between the pair like a tennis match as they exchanged heated words. But Maka was impressed. Crona managed to talk back to the weapon. Ragnarok at first seemed shocked, then he only got more and more blustered. A typical bully.

At Crona's last words the weapon folded his arms and looked away. Maka hoped the weapon would back down now. As she would never stand for Crona staving himself. She wouldn't let him.

"Hmph...fine...but it has to be a big one...with loads of scoops...and a ton of sprinkles...and a banana...and wafers...and chocolate...and...and..." Ragnarok carried on, listing his wants. Maka couldn't help a slight smile. Ragnarok did indeed seem to back down...kind of. But that dessert sounded expensive... Though she guessed it was worth it. If he did indeed buzz off for a time.

"Ok Ragnarok. What about you Crona?" She turned to him and waited for his choice. She hoped he could pick out his own. He was doing so well today. She was so proud of him.

Crona unfolded his arms to look back at Maka. He was embarrassed, especially for showing how much of a freak he was with Ragnarok. In a way... he always wondered what Maka would really think about him, about his... unique condition. He would never tell her to understand him, no one can... because even if Maka had Soul attached to her back all day and night, it wouldn't be the same. He knew Maka and Soul liked each other... a lot.

"Uhm... Neapolitan?" He finally chose, closing the menu before giving it back to Maka. Usually he would always choose vanilla, but just after last summer, when Patty introduced him to an ice cream that had three flavours on it... he was delighted. How can an ice cream taste like three different flavours and even had three different colours? He also liked it because it had vanilla and strawberry together... personal reasons.

The gentle breeze of the sea ruffled a bit of his pink hair, carrying the soothing scent of the beach along with it. There was something relaxing about that, even Ragnarok seemed to stop frowning that much.

"Y-your turn, Maka." He said with a light smile, really curious about what Maka would choose. Yet he couldn't help but fidget a bit, knowing that it would be her who would pay for it. Crona knew first hand that trying to pay her something was a lost cause. Soul had never succeeded on it, and Crona still couldn't deal with Maka refusing him to pay her things. He would think on something to pay her back soon enough.

She couldn't help her smile. He had picked a flavour...all by himself! Maybe she should stop expecting him to need her help at this rate. But she didn't want to draw attention to the fact and took back the menu. She perused the flavours on offer. There was just too much choice. her mouth watered just staring at the ice cream on offer.

Oooo...there was a "Build your own Sundae". She might go for that. Three flavours, your choice, with choice of sauce and topping. Yep. Hmm... what flavours though. Chocolate was a must. Also.. .bubblegum sounded nice. And... her finger glided down the paper. She knew she had a smile glued to her face as she glanced down. Not even Ragnarok's presence ruined her mood now for ice cream. Oh! Peanut butter? Oh she was definitely trying that one.

Maka suddenly snapped her head up to Crona. A big grin on her features. She quickly stood up and took the menu with her.

"Be right back." She said before walking off to the bar. A young male bartender was in attendance.

The demon swordsman couldn't help but look at her walking to the bar, leaving him alone on the table... well, almost alone.

"Where the hell is she going?" Ragnarok growled, still sitting on top of Crona's head like a well trained cat. The pinkette stared at Maka as well, but unlike Ragnarok's frown, he had a light smile on his face.

He really liked seeing Maka's smile, it was as warm and astonishing as the sun, and it meant she was comfortable around him. That was priceless for him... seeing her smile. His dark eyes couldn't help but wander to her beautiful features, her long legs in shorts instead of her usual skirt, her loose hair and that cute hat on top. Crona couldn't help but cross his arms on the table and just stare at her from afar with a silly smile on his face.

That is, until she called the attention of the bartender. He smiled at her, and did something that made Crona stiff like his own black blood running in his veins... That man scanned her. From head to toe, he ran his filthy eyes up and down Maka's body.

"Oh boy, he's gonna get it" Ragnarok grinned, feeling the anger raising in Crona's body. Ragnarok liked that, feeling that rush, sharing that known old feeling... the rush before murdering someone.

"Hello there, anything I can help?" The young bartender said with a charming smile, leaning closer to Maka just to be able to hear her with all the fuss of the cafe, completely ignorant to a pair of icy blue eyes glaring at him with murderous glee.

"Hi!" Maka smiled at the man. He was smartly dressed and grinned at her. Perhaps a little too friendly, but he was only doing his job so she didn't pay any attention to it. She stood by the bar and dropped the menu. She might as well get her own out of the way. She pointed at the 'build your own sundae' picture on the paper. The young male followed her hand and beamed a smile.

"Good choice, I always get that one myself." Maka nodded and smiled at him. Ignoring his little friendly chatter, she was just buying something. She didn't need to hear him try and converse with her.

"Anyway, I'll have chocolate, bubblegum and peanut butter ice cream..." She caught the bartender pull out a pen and paper and begin jotting her order down. "...I'll have chocolate sauce and um...hmmm...do you have chocolate sprinkles?" She asked of him. The male gazed up at her.

"Don't you have enough chocolate love?" Maka pouted at him. There was never enough chocolate on an ice cream. "But yes we do." He answered her and jotted it down. "Anything else?" He ceased his scrawling on the paper and looked back up to her.

"Right, I also want a Neapolitan" She repeated Crona's order to him. The man nodded and added it to the list.

Great now it was Ragnarok's turn...what the heck did he want? She decided to make him a sundae like her...though what flavours did he even want? She turned back to the table they were on, thinking about asking him. She caught Crona's eyes. His features were dark and his eyes were narrowed as if in some sort of threat. However it was only for a second. As soon as he noticed her looking his gaze softened. She raised an eyebrow in confusion. What was that? She decided against asking Ragnarok for his flavour choices now. She felt a shiver run up her spine. At seeing that gaze in Crona's eyes. It reminded her of his madness... of the church. But that was impossible... right?

"Um...um...err..." She floundered now. A bit put off by that stare. It was only for a second. But she had caught it. Now she was making herself worry. How often did he do that? Had that just been the first time she had seen it? Should she ask him about it? Maybe not...

"Miss?" The male prodded her to carry on. She glanced up at him and back down at the menu.

"Sorry... I think I'll just get another of the 'build a sundae' again. Same as the first but also with...um...a banana, and two wafers...and a flake. Ok?" the man nodded and jotted down the rest of her order.

"Can I interest you in anything else?" He smiled at her, showing off his white teeth. While pointing over at the specials board, it was filled with drinks and desserts. She quickly examined it just to be polite. But shook her head. "Are you sure? What about this one? Would go great with your ice cream..." He pointed to a particular drink on the menu. Was he advertising cocktails? At this hour? But Maka shook her head once more.

"No thank you." At that the bartender frowned but didn't say anything more.

"Table number?" He curtly spoke. Now that he wasn't going to get any more from her. Oh she forgot to take the number.

"Oh sorry...I'm over there." She pointed to where Crona and Ragnarok was sat. He looked over and his face dropped. Maka's brow lowered. What was wrong. She looked back over. Oh. She found Ragnarok still there, and waving at them. Maka cringed.

The man now stared at her, suspicion in his eyes. But he didn't say anything. Maka hoped he wouldn't cause a fuss...she didn't want anything to ruin Crona's holiday.

"I'll bring it over." He at last spoke. All politeness gone from his tone. He then spoke the amount. Maka quickly handed over the notes required and stuffed her change back in her purse, feeling uneasy around the man now. She quickly fled back to her seat. His demeanour was odd. Changing from super friendly to cold just like that. She guessed that may have been down to Ragnarok though. It could have gone worse she supposed.

She popped down opposite Crona. Debating whether or not to ask him about his dark gaze from before. But he only gave her a soft smile now. So she shook it off...maybe she was just imagining it.

Crona was still tense, his hands grasping his own arms in a tight grip just to calm himself down, leaving red marks on them. He couldn't help it, he had no idea what those feelings were, he had never had them before he met Maka. Yet, those feelings were now kind of common around her, every time some male stranger approached her with a smile and dancing eyes. It only happened around her, and Crona didn't know why. It felt like a really bad feeling, a feeling filled with anger and hate... it felt like some new kind of madness. It sickened him to feel that way, but what could he do? There was no way he would tell her about that. He had no idea what was going on or why he felt that way. What could he say? "Hey Maka, I have this horrible feeling every time I'm close to you and someone else talks to you, I feel like murdering them, is that bad?"

No, there was no way he would ask her something like that. Instead, he tried to bury that feeling, taking a deep sigh when she returned to his side at the table. Ragnarok was chuckling, obviously enjoying himself and the rush of madness inside Crona's body. His eyes were still blue, but slowly turning back to black.

"Where's the damn ice cream cow!? Did you just leave to flirt with that idiot? I want my ice cream!" Ragnarok roared, angry that she came back with nothing.

"Ragnarok..." Crona warned him with a frown, feeling tension coming back due to his partner's words. Taking another deep sigh, the swordsman smiled to Maka, glad that she was back to him. Now more than ever his hand itched, and his now black eyes darted to Maka's lonely hand on top of the table.

He needed to hold her, to feel her close, now more than ever when this strange feeling was still flowing down his body. He hesitated, his nervous hand fidgeting on top of the table. Would it be wrong? But, they always held hands, so it was ok... right? Holding hands on top of the table wouldn't be different to holding hands while walking... right?

With a shaky hand, Crona gently grasped Maka's free one with his own, feeling her soft skin and her warmth. He was trembling, due to nervousness and anger, but just like that... just by feeling her hand... all those bad thoughts and that new madness vanished. She was there, with him, she didn't run away from him... or would she?

He sat there, expectantly, holding Maka's hand, waiting for her to answer his grasp or take her hand away. His black eyes didn't dare to look at her face, afraid of seeing her eyes, afraid of seeing what she was thinking about his actions.

Maka examined Crona before her, he seemed shaken up. And tense. Something did happen. She didn't imagine it. Should she ask? Should she? In fact she had just opened her mouth to ask when he suddenly trailed his hand over the table and grasped her hand with his own. She glanced down at their entwined hands in slight confusion. She shut her mouth. She didn't want to ask that question now. She could feel his trembling hand, her heart sank a little to even think that he was doing something negative. There was just...just no way. Not her Crona. She felt a warmth rise up in her gut at his touch, her mouth grew dry as an odd feeling twisted in her gut...what was that? She didn't understand.

But she did understand one thing. She curled her fingers around his own. And held him, at first his grip was so lose she could have easily slipped out without effort. His palm was sweaty, but she didn't mind. It was nice to hold him again. But she didn't quite understand why. She never felt like this around the other guys...she wasn't totally stupid, she understood she might very well be attracted to him. But she didn't quite understand...why. She might be able to understand it if she sat and thought about it. But she didn't let herself. To allow such thoughts, was to admit they existed at all. No. Like the warm breeze of summer, this was fleeting. It had to be. She just had to wait it out. It would pass...she was sure of it.

"Maka Albarn!" Ragnarok's voice screeched at her. Maka blinked and gazed up at him. Oh yeah she didn't answer him. She huffed, even as she absently began to rub her thumb along Crona's skin. Relishing in the feeling, not wholly realizing she was even doing anything at all.

"It's on the way, be patient." Maka brought her other arm closer to her and folded it on the table, leaning on it slightly. She turned to watch the male bartender, in fact he looked about done. He manoeuvred around the bar with a great big tray in his hands, the three wonderful ice creams resting atop. The man's smile was back in place. The fake smile of someone just doing their job, akin to the times of servants.

"Here we are." He spoke. Maka watched him but didn't let go of Crona. The man of course didn't say anything regarding it. "Neapolitan?" He picked up Crona's ice cream and looked up to see whose it was. Maka pointed at Crona when the boy didn't reply right away. The male gave him a strained smile and gave a dark glance at Ragnarok perched atop his head.

Maka frowned, obviously the guy wasn't freaked out. What did he think it was some sort of weird puppet? Hmph. he must think no better of them then children. Whatever...she didn't really care. As long as he didn't upset Crona he could act however he liked.

"Chocolate dream?" Maka raised a confused eyebrow. She didn't order that. But when he picked up her ice cream she understood. He just named her ice cream...how cute, in a gross way.

"Mine." Maka piped up. He popped the glass in front of her, she nodded her thanks as he then picked up the last one. He glanced at the pair of them.

"Someone else joining you?" He asked of them. Assuming another person was in their group.

"Hey! That's mine! Gimmie!" Maka rolled her eyes and inwardly cringed at the rude cries of Ragnarok. She tensed when she spied the waiter jump and flinch back. A mask of shock over his face. He placed the ice cream near to Crona and held the tray under his arm...his shock vanished from his face. To actually be replaced by an impressed look. Maka wasn't sure why...

"Wow... that was good. You got me kid. I didn't even see your lips move!" The bartender laughed as he briskly walked away and back to his post.

Ragnarok stood there, just staring at that guy walking away while laughing.. AT HIM! The black blob was so shocked that it took him a while to snap out of it, and not even the big ass ice cream on the table distracted him from his train of thoughts.

"Did he just... HE JUST THOUGHT I WAS A PUPPET!?" Ragnarok roared, multiple veins of anger showing on his head. Roaring in a full outburst of anger, he started pulling Crona's head outrageously. "KILL HIM! KILL HIM CRONA! I know you want to, so get up and kill him!"

Yes, Crona felt like killing him... but he wouldn't do that, he would never do that again. Yet Ragnarok was inviting him to... he just needed a drop of blood, just one drop threw at him, a little bloody needle just piercing his heart...

The demon swordsman shook his head, now using both hands to hold Maka, both of his thumbs caressing down her soft skin. That calmed him down, that soothed him, her warmth had the ability to dissipate all those murderous thoughts. Thinking quickly, Crona took the huge ice cream dish with both of his hands, releasing Maka, just to call Ragnarok's attention.

That worked, the little demon stopped roaring just to look at the colourful dessert. Finally shutting up, he took out his giant tongue to lick at the ice cream, just before pushing the whole thing inside his giant mouth. You gotta wonder if he even tasted it, because the whole thing was gone in a manner of seconds.

"You promised..." Crona said in a low tone of voice, staring back at his companion. Ragnarok made a low "hmph!" before vanishing inside of Crona's back. With a sigh, the swordsman felt like he could finally relax again.

He finally took a chance to stare at what the bartender brought to them. Crona couldn't help but stare at the giant cup in front of Maka, filled to the brim with chocolate. He knew that was Maka's favourite flavour, and the swordsman couldn't help but smile just a little bit at that thought.

"D-Didn't you want ice cream for your c-chocolate?" He asked innocently, because he could barely see the ice cream in that thick cape of melted chocolate and chocolate chips.

Maka grinned at the boy before her. Happiness bubbled forth as he teased her. Anyone else and she would have pouted right away and quipped back. In fact she still might, but hearing him actually pluck up the courage to tease her. She...just couldn't help the grin.

"Ha!" Maka laughed out loud before falling into that familiar pout. "How very dare you..." She acted insulted. "This is a masterpiece of ice cream!" she held her spoon high in the air as if she was telling the whole world of her ice cream art. Before she dropped the spoon and plunged it into her ice cream, getting a huge great big scoop and shoving the entire thing into her mouth.

"Mmm..." She mumbled out. Getting a mix of all the flavours on offer, Crona appeared to just watch her. As if this was all new to him. But this wasn't new for him at all, since he had shared a lot of ice creams with him before.

"How's yours?" She mumbled through her mouthful.

The young man seemed to come out of a trance, at first looking at her like if he didn't know what was she talking about... then he remembered he asked for ice cream too. He couldn't help it, Maka's huge grin was like the brightest star in the sky, shiny as the sun, warming his whole being... no one could blame him for staring at her, like if she were the most amazing movie in the whole world. He should try to make her laugh more often...

"Ahm..." He tried to answer, yet he hadn't tried it. His first time with ice cream had been a blast to his senses. He just had never tried them before, how could anything be so sweet and soft? Beside Maka, of course...

Grabbing his own spoon, he started toying with his own cup. It was smaller and plainer than Maka's, just holding two balls of the three-coloured ice cream. It had a white fluffy thing on top with a cherry and a pair of cookies sticking out. Taking a spoonful, he tried the soft treat, immediately feeling the sweet overwhelming his senses. You could see the joy in Crona's face, how his usual gloomy look vanished to a cheerful kind of state.

Some people would laugh at seeing him getting happy so easily. But, really, for a boy who had been in hell all his childhood and half of his teenage years, making him happy was actually quite easy. And in that moment, all of that bad feeling of before was now a far gone memory, because he was there, alone with Maka, enjoying ice cream together.

"It's really good..." He said with a smile, quickly grabbing a second spoonful. He stared again at her ice cream, tilting his head a bit "I didn't know you could g-give names to ice creams... l-like... could you name an ice cream after a person?"

"Hmm...I guess so." Maka automatically answered him. She only half paid attention now, even the movement of eating her own ice cream seemed to melt into the background. Her own sweet tasty treat taking a back seat.

She was watching his face. Crona's face blushed as his grin grew wide. Maka's heart skipped a beat as she watched him. His little face as he took in each new mouthful. It was like watching him eat ice cream for the first time, every time. Maka's mind grew hazy and everything else was of little consequence as she sat there and stared at him. Luckily he hadn't clocked on quite yet that she was just...watching. She didn't speak, she barely managed to carry on eating. Only really still moving so as to not attract his attention.

She felt her mind slow as she watched him, not tasting her own treat. His face lit up as he swallowed. Fascinated with the dessert she had bought him.

She loved him like this, she fascinated her. How someone like him could even exist. She never knew anyone like him before. So secluded from the world. With the pure innocence of a child in the mind. But she also knew he had the power to kill, the skill to murder. Yet. He held it at bay. And that was beautiful to see. He was like a tiger, a beautiful and majestic creature of the night. Able to be heartless and tear their victims to shreds. But here...right now. He was gentle, and soft, and warm. She wanted to reach out to him. To touch his face. To feel that soft fur of her own personal tiger. The powerful beast of destruction, tamed and enjoying life outside of his small cage.

Suddenly his eyes snapped up to hers... she was brought out of her world. She realised her hand had indeed been reaching over to cup his face. Ack! No, don't do that you stupid girl! Her heart leapt into her throat as she quickly dropped her hand to the table. It thudded out as she slammed it down a little more forcefully then she meant, she felt the shock of the impact run through her arm. But she didn't voice a complaint.

She glanced down at her own ice cream to see it half gone...great, she didn't even taste any of that.

The slam against the table surface made Crona yelp, his scared eyes looking back at Maka after being focused only on his ice cream. She looked... frustrated, to say the least, and that confused him. What just happened?

"M-Maka?" He tried to ask, noticing her kind of angered... okay, what the hell just happened? Did he do something wrong? When? How? His face seemed to show his own thoughts with a concerned look in his dark eyes. Just then he noticed Maka's ice cream half melted. She didn't like it?

Tilting his head like a confused puppy, a sudden bright idea came to him. Taking the half that was left of his ice cream with a spoon, he let it drop in Maka's cup, using the melted chocolate as syrup. It looked good again, the colourful three-flavoured ice cream next to the chocolate ball, both swimming in a chocolate sea.

"T-Try it now." He said with a soft smile, hoping that would make Maka happy again. She looked confused, maybe wondering about him. But he didn't matter, as long as Maka was alright, he would be happy.

And just to make his point, he reached out to hold Maka's hand again, gently rubbing it with his thumb, caressing the same hand just moments ago Maka rammed against the table. Yet somehow, he knew that wasn't really the reason why Maka burst out like that. Maka wasn't like that, he knew better, but he also knew that if Maka didn't tell him right away, then he shouldn't ask.

He just sat there, with his gentle smile and concerned eyes, rubbing her hand softly.

"T-thank you Crona..." Maka spoke to him. Mixed feelings flooded her as she looked down at the extra spoonful of ice cream. She felt a sliver of guilt slide into the back of her mind... that he had given away some of that wonderful ice cream he had been so enjoying moments ago. But it was drown out by the rejoicing of his care for her. Her eyes watered slightly as she stared at her melting treat. Unable to look him in the eyes anymore.

She tightened her hold on his hand. Glad for his touch once more. She didn't want to let go...oh no...she beginning to feel warm again. Her heart beat quickened. Not again...this was like the hotel room. What was causing this?!

Maka quickly scooped up the ice cream and popped it into her mouth. Trying to distract her mind. She couldn't go on like this. She shouldn't be wanting him...needing him so much...maybe...maybe she should distance herself.

No! A stab of mental pain shot through her heart at the mere thought. That would destroy her...and him. No, she couldn't do that! But...but she can't carry on like this. She swallowed thickly and took in another gulp. Now caressing his flesh as she tried to concentrate on her dessert. her mind spinning as she tried to think of a way out for her. But her face was only blushing more. Her body getting warmer. There was no close area to run to now...not without letting go. And...she doubted she could if she wanted to.

Why was her mind and body going against her so? Why couldn't they just be friends? Wasn't that enough? Why did her body want to degrade her to the level of her papa? It was sickening.

Well..no...she didn't feel sick at what she felt. God...she was so confused. her hand began to shake, even while holding Crona's. She ducked her head lower, just about getting the ice cream to her mouth now.

She scrunched up her eyes as she struggled to stop her mind. A daydream came unbidden to her thoughts. One that often cropped up to plague her. The setting was always different...but the theme was always the same. This time it was right here, and right now. Exactly in the position they were in...however dream Maka reacted to her feelings and didn't hide away. She jumped out of her chair and moved toward him. Dream Crona smiled as if he knew. Then their lips connected.

Maka's blush grew even darker if that was possible. She gritted her teeth...oh why did that happen?! Why was any of this happening?! Her heart thundered in her ears as a deep feeling of need arose. She had to act...and quickly! Before she did something she would regret.

She dropped the spoon and pushed the bowl away, still unable to let go of his hand she dropped her head to the table. Her forehead slammed into the wood underneath, a spike of pain flared but she ignored it.

"Mmmph...Brain freeze..." She lied.

"B-B-Brain Freeze!?" He gasped, staring at Maka with her face on the table. What did she mean? Her brain froze? But just moments ago she looked like if she had fever... was that part of brain freeze? Was that a permanent thing? Crona started panicking, unsure of what to do for her.

Then it clicked... he had heard that one before. Didn't Liz once warn Patty about that? It was something about eating ice-cream too quickly and feeling pain in your head. But Maka hadn't ate ice-cream like Patty did... but if Maka said she had brain freeze, then it was true.

Releasing Maka's hand, he gulped just a little bit before scooping his chair closer to her, now sitting beside her instead of front. Before Maka could even see it coming, both of Crona's hands were on her head, his slim fingers rubbing her temple in circles, trying to make her feel better. Brain freeze? She felt actually very warm, yet again Crona didn't object.

"A-Are you okay?" He asked, truthfully worried for her. He had never felt something like a brain freeze, but he saw Black Star screaming his lungs out because of it once, laughing right after it saying it was a joke. It really didn't look like a joke. Concerned and not really thinking about his actions, he travelled his free right hand to her back, caressing her up and down just like she used to do to him every time he had a panic attack. Probably it was pretty much the same.

Maka felt empty inside when his hand left hers... a space that should be filled was now nothing but a vacant space. She felt hollow...she missed his hand. No...she was fine. She didn't need it. Oh god...why was this happening to her? What was this? She tried to push it down...she had to bury it. Had to do it. It was for the best. But being so close to him...just aggravated it. Was this what it was like for her Papa? Was this why he does what he does?

No...something inside told her this was different. It's not like she goes for every guy around her. No, just Crona. Her thoughts were dominated by Crona. She wanted to touch him. She gritted her teeth as her mind spun. She hardly heard the screech of the chair.

Then something happened that made her breath hitch and her eyes to open wide in shock. Crona's hands were on her head! Massaging her head and temples. His wonderful and soft delicate fingers working away at her skull. ...she was in heaven. But she was no angel. She felt like a slut. This was wrong. She gritted her teeth harder as his hands glided over her skin. Why was he doing this? What for? For barely a second a brief flash of hope burned into her. Maybe Crona liked her too? Maybe...but then that image was cut in two and crushed under the knowledge of her lie. She said she had brain freeze...that was why he was doing this.

It must be.

Maka lost her smile. That knowledge pained her. But...his fingers still felt so nice. She relished feeling this. She should move...stop him. But right now...she stopped caring. She didn't want him to stop. She relaxed once more into his ministrations. His caring attention.

Crona had asked her a question...but she couldn't answer him. She didn't trust her own voice. As his hands moved off her head she risked nodding at him. Maybe that would get him to stop this wonderful feeling. She knew her face must be absolutely beetroot now. It left a tingling across her skin, goose bumps rose when his touch left her. Her own body missing him. She thought he might be done...she hoped he was. No that wasn't right. She hoped he wasn't...but prayed he was. Gah...she wasn't making any sense.

She was about to look up when she then felt his hands on her back. Caressing her back and rubbing up and down. Just like she often does to him. Maka's eyes widened once more, before she snapped them shut. If this was what it felt like to him...well...she would have to stop it. The feel of his hands rubbing her was so amazing, his hands, that have killed so many...were so gentle on her. Like the paws of the beautiful tiger. Tracing her form. She shuddered and trembled. Her hands left the table and she dropped them to her knees, gripping them hard. Her knuckles starting to turn white.

Her breathing increased as another hand crept up and rubbed her arm now...oh god...did he even realise what he was doing?! She needed to get him to stop...stop...stop it...right now! Her breathing increased...as if she was panicking. But she really wasn't. Well...maybe a small part of her was. Only a small part.

A small moan escaped her lips...oh crap! She clenched her jaw shut at her slip up. The blush continuing to darken...was all the blood going to rush to her face at this rate?! Her teeth grinded as she struggled in her own body. She needed to get him to cease. He was making this ten...times...worse! Her body was so warm now... and now...something else began to flutter in her body. An odd ache began to centre below her stomach...what as that...? An urge she didn't know or understand all too well. Maybe if she researched it...but right now. Her brain was currently offline, and her body was running away with her.

Her body began to shake as that urge only grew in intensity...her teeth grinded ever more...she was sure it could be heard now...that ache getting stronger...until. Oh shit... her mind suddenly activated once more. She realised what was going on! Crona was turning her on! No!

Suddenly she jumped away from him, the shock on her face as her chest heaved with her exertion. She backed away from him so quickly she fell off her chair and landed on her ass. She struggled to breathe as she looked back up at him.

"M-Maka!" He gasped in surprise, how she ran from his touch and fell to the floor. What just happened? Did she... just run away from his touch? It couldn't be, yet...

Maybe he crossed a line. Now that he thought about it, he had never done such thing before. It was always her, comforting him, making him feel better, but he had never done something like that... maybe it was wrong. His hand tickled, missing the wonderful feeling of actually touching Maka. Not like he never touched her before, but never like that... like... caressing her. He had never done that, he should have asked permission for doing it. Surely was that, he had crossed a line and Maka didn't like it.

"A-Are you okay? I-I-I'm s-sorry!" He apologized, for a moment thinking on helping her up from the floor, but he stopped himself right away. He could still feel her trembling below his touch. At first he thought it was because of the ice cream, or maybe she was getting cold since the sun was starting to snooze and fall from the sky... but now, maybe, just maybe, she shuddered because of his touch.

That thought hurt, a lot.

So, instead of offering her his hand, he pushed the chair closer to her so she could use it to push herself up. His left hand went up to hold his right arm in a tight grip, almost pinching his own skin. Soul always used to do that, caressing her back just to calm her down, or patting her shoulder, and she never ever trembled or ran away from him like that...

He definitely had crossed a line.

Shit...shit...shit...this was what she was afraid of. She stared up at Crona's face. His once serene and happy face was pulled back into one of worry and fright. No...she didn't mean to do that!

She quickly pushed herself up, using the chair to spring up. She had to reach him, tell him it was all ok. The last thing she wanted was him to blame himself for her own stupid mistake!

"C-Crona! Crona...please. You didn't do anything wrong!" She blustered out, her mind on auto-pilot. The need to reach him mentally and reassure him was so strong. It overrode whatever embarrassment and shame she had previously felt.

"That...that was my fault! Not yours..." Gah, how could she get through to him?! Her mind worked quickly, trundling through images and words. Some not even making sense as she knew she needed to make things better...

She looked scared... no, terrified. Was it because of him? Crona was confused, very confused. How did this happen? They were having such a good time, and now he messed everything up! He always messed everything up! He could do nothing but stand there. Nothing wrong? Of course Maka would say that, but that didn't make it true. Of course Crona didn't believe her, you could see it in his face.

"I'm sorry! I just...it felt...I..." She bobbed her mouth open and shut. What to say?! What could she possibly say to him? She might lose him right here...right now...she couldn't deal with that! Her heart thundered so loud she thought she might go deaf. She didn't even look if anyone was looking, she didn't care. She stared at his face, he appeared blank, a mask of shock on his features. This was it...now or never.

It felt... what? Bad? Horrible? Maybe the feeling of a murderer touching you was too much, even for Maka. It felt what!? Crona felt faint, he could almost hear her next words... "It felt awful" "It felt sickening" or something of the sorts. He knew she was going to say something like that, even if he hoped against hope she didn't... he didn't know if he could get over it. Why did he do that? Why he had to just go there and touch her?

"I...I liked it! Ok?!" She strode forward, covering the distance between them and gripped his shoulders in her hands. "I really...really liked it..." Her voice dropped low, it wavered slightly. Oh god...don't cry...don't cry you wuss! She berated herself now.

"I...liked it too much." She felt the tears bud in her eyes. She struggled with all her might to push them back. But she felt in her gut that she might very well be pushing her friend away. That hurt her...she felt heavy, like a lead weight had settled within her. It felt sharp, piercing her insides...she felt like she might actually be sick.

He felt her hands on his shoulders, her tight grip, she was still shaking. She... liked it? But, if she liked it... then why? If she liked it, wasn't it right? Why would she run away from something she liked? It made no sense to him. His eyes widened when he started noticing tears in her eyes. She wasn't crying, not yet, but her eyes were getting red and wet. No, no, no, no, no, don't cry! Please don't cry!

"I'm sorry...this is my fault." Maka dropped her arms from him. She prayed he understood her. She didn't want to lose him. She would try again to ignore these feelings…she could bottle them up...she swears she can. She just has to try again.

He felt her hands leave his shoulders, leaving him confused and scared. He had made her cry... over something she liked? Was like crying because she was his friend? But then... why run away from something she liked? She had liked his touch, but she didn't want it. It was just way too confusing for him, he didn't understand, he didn't know what to do.

There was a deep confusion in his eyes, his black deep eyes just staring back at her. People were watching but he couldn't care less about them, or about anyone else in the whole world. For Crona, the only person in the whole world was Maka, everyone else was just secondary characters. Crona knew those thoughts weren't't healthy or nice, he had friends, he had Marie and Professor Stein, they were important too...

But deep inside, he knew far too well that he would sacrifice any of them for Maka, if he had to. He knew it wasn't right, he knew it wasn't healthy or something a sane person would think... but it was the truth. Along with that, he would never do anything that could make Maka cry, and touching her seemed to be one of them.

She liked it, but she didn't want it.

"Is not... P-please Maka... l-look at me, p-please?" He stuttered in a soft tone of voice "I-Its okay..."

He wanted to hold her, to hug her and comfort her... but Maka had marked a line, a line he didn't understand, but it was there. He couldn't touch her if she didn't ask for it. He would NOT make her feel sad again. Even if he didn't understand her reasons, he would accept it.

Before Maka could say anything else, a loud familiar voice called their attention. Not too far away, Black Star was jumping his way to them, with nothing on him but big swim shorts. His toned tan body shining with the light of sunset.

"What are you both doing in such a hidden place? You should have come! You all missed your mighty god showing the sea who is the bigger man!" He roared, scaring more than one costumer in the cafe. Not far behind him, the rest of the crew were either sighing or laughing at his demeanour.

"If you mean by that drowning more than a couple of times..." Soul said with a mocking grin, a grin that vanished when he looked at Maka. She looked troubled, something was definitely not right. He knew better, he was her weapon after all. "Are you alright, Maka?"

Maka wiped her eyes quickly, she didn't want Soul to see her upset. she didn't want any of them to see her as weak and crying. She didn't want any of them to get the wrong idea. Her eyes scanned to Crona. And especially the wrong idea about him.

He still seemed on the verge of another panic attack. Seems she had failed in reached him... did he even want to be her friend anymore? She was a failure...tears budded once again but she quickly wiped them away. She needed to make something up and fast...she didn't want Crona to try and take the blame for whatever he thought was going on...

Ignoring Black Star as he came bounding over, she turned to Soul who was now right next to her.

"Sorry...I'm just not feeling well." Soul grunted as he frowned and wrapped his arm around her shoulders to comfort her. His hand giving her shoulders a slight rub. "I-I think I'm just going to go back to my room and lie down..." she held her head low. Feeling a pit of shame open up in her. How many times was she going to lie today? She felt low.

"I'll come with you." Soul spoke to Maka. His words soft and concerned. Maka shook her head at him.

"Oh...don't worry about me. You go have fun with the others..." Maka tried to push him off. But Soul was having none of it. He shook his head.

"Don't worry Maka, I'll take you back to your room. After all, I'm your weapon aren't I? Weapons look after their meisters." Soul grinned at her. Maka smiled back. He was just trying to look after her. But as they started to walk away Maka looked back to Crona.

He wasn't looking at them. His hunched figure was still, his eyes staring at his feet, his face hidden beneath his pink hair locks. The hand holding his own arm tightened around it, turning his knuckles white. Even with the distance between them growing more and more, they could still feel a subtle hint of the other's feelings. Crona could feel Maka was sad and confused...

And the only thing Maka could feel, was Crona's madness wavelength. It was madness pouring from him, but it was different to his usual sad fearful madness... that madness wasn't a void of solitude. That madness felt full... filled with desperate demonic passion... it felt almost like hate.

Before she could take another glance at him, Crona had disappeared.

"Maka?" Soul called for her, his red eyes staring down at his meister. He was worried about her, he could feel something was wrong. Maka wasn't like that, and she not telling him anything frustrated him to no end. He was a patient person, but Maka's hesitation and insecurities always thinned said patience.

What he liked about her, was her courage to overcome her own flaws, such like these.

"Anything I can know?" He tried to guess, staring straight into Maka's worried eyes. Guessing always worked with her, she was a terrible bad liar.

Maka's eyes glanced down, even as she was being led away. Her face was pained, her fists clenched tightly together. She couldn't say. No way could she tell him what was wrong...

'Oh, I really like Crona as more then a best friend. And I was turned on when he touched me.'

Yeah... that would go down well. Maka chewed her own lip. She was momentarily taken away from her own world for a second by the shouting of a certain blue haired assassin.

"Wow! I want this one and that one and that one! Pile it on buddy!" Maka sighed out. She guessed he was ordering ice cream...far too much. "I the almighty Black Star challenge you all to an ice cream eating contest!" Yeah...that sounded like a good idea. Surely no one would accept...

"You've on!" Never mind... that was Patty's voice. Quickly followed by Liz.

"Patty. I don't think..." She tried to stop her. But Maka knew that a competition between them was now on. No one could stop it. Maka secretly wished to go back there and join in. Join in the revelry and the joy. To join in on the vacation. To have no worries. But she wasn't in that world anymore, she didn't belong there. No matter how much she wished to. Suddenly she thought of Crona...she imagined him being pushed out of the crowd and shouted over by the loudmouth's that were Patty and Black Star.

She turned round to try and spot him. Just to check on him. That's what she told herself. But her eyes widened when she didn't see him, he was gone! Her heart leapt into her throat. For a brief second she was about to flee Soul's arms and search for him. Until her brain kicked in. She was being stupid. He had probably just gone to the toilets. Most likely... She gave the scene one last scan though, still feeling like he was indeed missing. She couldn't help but scan her friends. None of them looked worried...either they knew where he was...or didn't care. That last thought hurt...but it couldn't be...could it?

"Earth to Maka...hello in there?" Maka blinked...she looked back up to Soul. He grinned at her, bearing his sharp teeth to her. "You with me?"

Maka nodded. She still didn't want to speak. Their steps were taking them further and further away now and toward the hotel. "So...anything I can know?" He repeated. Maka resumed chewing her lip. Great...he wasn't going to drop it.

"You can talk to me y'know..." He pushed. But Maka really didn't know what to say. She couldn't say a lie...not to him. Not to Soul. So she didn't say anything. But it was nice having someone there with her though. She felt calmer...worried...but now she wasn't around the boy she bore an obsession with. So she was feeling better, at least in that department.

"Mmm.." Was all Maka managed out. Soul frowned at her. Then sighed. His grip on her tensed slightly, as if he was irritated.

"Fine... if you can't even talk to me about it. Why don't you try writing one of your gay emo poems. You like doing that don't you?" Maka was now the one who felt irritated. She should 'Maka chop' him right now for saying that. She shot him a look in warning. But that only made him grin again. A smug look now on his features.

"Haha! Now there is the Maka I know." Maka managed a little smile at him. He was trying to help her feel better.

* * *

**Akire Rosales**: haha! Fortunately for you, this chapter was already written! So yeah, I just took my time to torture you all… yes, Im evil. REVIEWS!


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